Union make quick work of expansion Charlotte, 2-0

Union midfielder Daniel Gazdag probably will not score an easier goal in his life than the tally he notched in the 46th minute on Saturday night.

Gazdag had the ball passed right to him at the top-left corner of the penalty area by Charlotte FC goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina.

The Hungarian midfielder took advantage of the mistake by slotting home the second of two goals in the Union’s 2-0 win at Subaru Park.

The entire 90 minutes were not as easy for the Union as Gazdag’s goals, but at stretches, it felt like it.

Charlotte offered very little going forward against the Union defense that recorded its third consecutive clean sheet. The expansion side placed a single shot on target and had an expected goals total of 0.6.

The Union scored within the first five minutes of both halves to put away their fourth straight victory.

Julian Carranza opened his Union scoring account in the fourth minute on a lovely attacking move that Kai Wagner started on the left wing.

Wagner floated a long ball to the boot of Sergio Santos, who slalomed past a defender and cut a pass into the middle of the box for Carranza to finish.

“If you could draw up a Philadelphia Union goal, that excites me the most,” Union manager Jim Curtin said.

“If you take (Julian’s) whole body of work. The preseason was excellent. I said this at the beginning of the year, but his ability and what he should aspire to be is Castellanos from New York City. They are similar (in many ways). He’s that good. He is really special,” Curtin said.

After the first tally, neither side did much of anything going forward until Gazdag capitalized on Kahlina’s mistake at the start of the second half.

“(Gazdag)’s playing at a really high level,” Curtin said. “The intensity that the guys played with was impressive. Daniel has taken a huge step forward and he’s taken the lead on scoring goals and creating goals.”

The Union controlled the contest and whichever efforts Charlotte had either went into the side netting, away from the net, or high into the stands alongside the Delaware River.

The Union’s only concern from the Eastern Conference clash was the potential injury picked up by Santos right before he was scheduled to be taken off in a two-forward change.

Santos pulled up near the left side of the net and walked to the bench with a considerable limp.

Offseason signing Mikael Uhre was one of the forwards who came on in the 64th minute. It was Uhre’s first action since the second week of the season against CF Montreal.

The Union remain on top of the Eastern Conference with 13 points. The team will return to action next Saturday to face the Columbus Crew in Chester.

“This Philadelphia Union team has not played its best game, which I like,” Curtin said.